Overview

The three spunky ladies who so charmed readers in The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love and The Gardens of Covington welcome us back to the small Southern town of Covington, to their quaint white farmhouse with yellow shutters on Cove Road...

From the Heart of Covington

Life lessons abound as housemates Hannah, Grace, Amelia continue to surround themselves with love and hope, meeting each new challenge with equanimity and heart and placing ...

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This Book

Overview

The three spunky ladies who so charmed readers in The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love and The Gardens of Covington welcome us back to the small Southern town of Covington, to their quaint white farmhouse with yellow shutters on Cove Road...

From the Heart of Covington

Life lessons abound as housemates Hannah, Grace, Amelia continue to surround themselves with love and hope, meeting each new challenge with equanimity and heart and placing their trust in one another as their friendship strengthens and grows. In helping a dear friend and neighbor cope with illness, the ladies develop a deeper mutual compassion and a true appreciation for the softness of heart and toughness of spirit that join them as women. Amelia, feeling strong and adventurous, takes a momentous trip to New York City to further her burgeoning photography career. Grace, kindhearted as ever, becomes involved with a little girl at the local elementary school who may be having terrible problems at home. Meanwhile, Hannah's daughter, Laura, is involved in a tragic accident that has serious consequences for all concerned.

With the same compassion and heart readers have already come to know and love, Joan Medlicott once again reveals how life's journeys and challenges only strengthen our loving commitments to family, friends, and loved ones. It's another inspiring message of courage, self-acceptance, and hope.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The issues in From the Heart of Covington are as fresh as tomorrow's news. Medlicott's prose is warm and quick. These three women, in their widow's might, inspire us with dignity and confidence, humor, and affection.

-Robert Morgan, author of Gap Creek

There's never a dull moment at the Covington farmhouse of these three older ladies.

-Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Dallas Morning News

Once again, Ms. Medlicott portrays Southern characters with precision and fondness...fans will welcome From the Heart of Covington, another year in the life of the ladies and one more reminder of all that glitters in the golden years.

Booklist

Drawing strength from each other and their ever-widening circle of friends, Medlicott's resilient heroines are able not only to sustain themselves but also to offer comfort to everyone who needs it. Wholesome and...appealing.

Publishers Weekly

The third entry in Medlicott's cozy series about North Carolina roomies Hannah, Amelia and Grace presents new trials for the aging trio. Hannah's estranged daughter Laura, injured in a boating accident, moves in while recuperating; shutterbug Amelia volunteers at a hospital and gets an opportunity to show her work in New York City; and Grace, who lives to bake and eat, is in denial concerning a diagnosis of diabetes. Meanwhile, all three must contend with the illness of close friend and neighbor Harold. Just as the youthful concerns of series like Sweet Valley High are targeted toward a niche of readers of a certain juvenile age, the geriatric concerns of the ladies of Covington"hip replacements, adjusting to sleeping alone after the death of a spouse, making dietary concessions to age and ruminating on where the soul goes"determine the audience here as well. More like a lengthy once-a-year holiday update on the doings of family and friends than a novel, the lead-by-example episodes should still offer reassurances to readers facing similar problems, though even they might find it hard to endure the painfully stilted dialogue. Helping underprivileged children, organizing round-the-clock care for terminally ill friends, healing wounded birds: if not exactly exciting, these activities are carried out by the sort of well-meaning women you'd want in your corner in a pinch. Major ad/promo; national author tour; reading group guide. (May 23) Forecast: Medlicott scored with The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love and The Gardens of Covington, and she stays the course here, so expect a repeat performance sales-wise, too. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.\

Library Journal

The ladies of Covington return in the third novel in Medlicott's series (after The Gardens of Covington). Hannah, Amelia, and Grace, three widows who share a farmhouse, must each confront various setbacks and challenges. Hannah's estranged daughter, Laura, moves in with them for an anguished recovery after an accident. Hannah, who is busy designing the Gardens of Covington, finds a way to involve Laura in the project. Amelia shows (and sells!) her photographs at a New York gallery, and Grace carries much of the story line as she struggles with a diagnosis of diabetes, all while demands are made on her from several fronts. Her gay son's tumultuous relationships claim her attention, and she also becomes emotionally involved with an underprivileged young girl whom she is tutoring and a friend who is unable to cope with the loss of her husband to cancer. Through it all, the fear of what will happen on January 1, 2000, haunts the town's residents, who are socking away extra provisions, just in case. This series is a gentle read, lightly touching upon some contemporary themes but leaving overt sex and violence behind. Though divorced from any religious message, it will appeal to fans of Jan Karon's "Mitford" series. Essential for libraries that own others in the series. Carol J. Bissett, New Braunfels P.L., TX Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.\

Kirkus Reviews

Third in Medlicott's Covington series (The Gardens of Covington, 2001, etc.). Three friends in their 60s, Grace Singleton, Hannah Parrish and Amelia Declose, warehoused in a Pennsylvania boardinghouse, have nothing to look forward to but fading away, when Amelia inherits a rundown farmhouse in Covington, North Carolina, and all three take off for a new life as they rebuild the farm and their talents. Amelia becomes a photographer, Hannah a gardener with her own greenhouse, and Grace—newly wise and confident—becomes a cook and falls in love with courtly Bob. All fight off a developer who wants to upgrade Cove Road, while Amelia is courted by Lance Lundquist. Now Hannah's rebellious daughter Laura has had a boating accident during a hurricane in Puerto Rico and, gashed, bruised, and with a broken leg, has had her spleen removed. Her lost boat having been her home, she's flown to Cove Road to live with her mother. Then Harold, Amelia's cousin and the group's first friend in Covington, comes down with lung cancer. And Grace's gay but callow son Roger cheats on his lover Mike, causing great anguish in the house. When Grace throws a big party for all of Cove Road, she sees how young she and her two three friends now look: "No one becomes old until regret takes the place of dreams." No surprises here, but fans won't mind.\

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Read an Excerpt

1

In the Blink of an Eye

Butterflies drank deeply from the faces of red salvia and purple verbena in Hannah’s garden. Along the edges of the stream, vibrant orange daylilies bobbed and waved in a brisk summer breeze. Across the road from the ladies’ farmhouse, open fields were dappled with George Maxwell’s dairy cows. With a light heart and an all’s-wells-with-the-world feeling, Grace noted all this as she drove slowly down Cove Road and turned into the driveway of the home she shared with Hannah and Amelia. Immediately her mood changed.

“What’s wrong, Hannah?” Grace asked, as she hurried from her car toward the front porch of their farmhouse where Hannah Parrish sat in her white wicker rocking chair staring into space. “You look distraught.”

Tears trailed down Hannah’s face. She lifted her hand to wipe them away and dropped it back into her lap. “It’s my daughter Laura. She’s been badly hurt.”

Grace was beside her in a moment, kneeling, her hands on Hannah’s knees, and looking up into her friend’s anguished face. “Laura’s been hurt? How? Where? Tell me.” She shook Hannah’s leg. “Talk to me, Hannah. Tell me what’s happened.”

For a long moment Hannah sat without speaking, then she turned stricken eyes to Grace. “A Dr. Romano called from Puerto Rico. He said there’d been a hurricane, and Captain Marvin’s boat … his ketch … dashed to bits on a reef. Laura’s been injured.” Hannah, reliably cool and collected, stoic, and not given to tears or drama, lowered her head and cupped her chin to stop its quivering. After a moment, she rallied and looked at Grace. “They never found Captain Marvin.” Hannah buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook.

Getting up off her knees, Grace’s arms circled Hannah’s broad shoulders. Her fingers brushed Hannah’s thick salt-and-pepper hair. “I’m so sorry.” She had a million questions. What had happened? Why were they on a boat in a hurricane? How badly was Laura hurt? “Where’s Laura now?”

“Hospital in Puerto Rico. Broken leg, all banged up, stitches. They had to remove her spleen.”

“Have you spoken to her?”

“Not yet. Been sitting here waiting for you or Amelia to come home.” Then Hannah turned troubled eyes to Grace. “That boat was Laura’s home. She’s lost everything. She’s got no place to go from the hospital but here.”

“Ambulance plane.” Grace sat heavily in her rocker alongside Hannah. “When can she travel, did they say?”

Hannah dug in a pocket of her slacks and pulled out a small slip of paper. “She’s being discharged in five days.” Hannah sounded exhausted. She muttered something Grace did not catch, shifted her hips in the rocker, and heaved a deep sigh. Several moments passed in silence. “That cold I had, more like a flu, has left me feeling emotionally as well as physically weak. I need time to digest this whole thing. Never been close to Laura. Haven’t seen her in years. She was pretty, you know, prettier than her sister, Miranda, but hard to handle, rebellious. We seemed to grate on each other’s nerves.”

“That’s in the past. Laura needs you now.” Softly, Grace stroked Hannah’s arm. “She needs you.” Wisteria flowers hung like clusters of lavender grapes from vines firmly established along the fretwork of the porch. Several papery petals fell into Hannah’s lap. She lifted one, rubbed it between two fingers, then let it fall to the floor.

“I know.” Her blue eyes sought Grace’s. “It’s been so many years. We’re strangers. Don’t know my own child. What will I say to her?” She rubbed her forehead with her hand. “Hope I’m up to the challenge. I’m not like you, Grace. I’ve never been good at taking care of sick people.”

“I’m here for you, for Laura, and I’m sure Amelia will be too.”

It was summer, glorious green and glowing summer, a trifle warm, but night temperatures were cool, in the low sixties, and comfortable. The ladies’ farmhouse sat well back from Cove Road, beyond a long stretch of grassy lawn. In beds on either side of the gravel driveway, red roses had put on a striking display in May, while in June a stunning show of purple irises and mustard-yellow Stella d’Ore daylilies were followed by exquisitely formed tubular, purple Coventry bells rearing their heads behind the salvia, verbena, and white geraniums that filled the flower beds that ran the length of the porch on either side of the front steps.

Hannah’s news weighted the lightness Grace had felt earlier. Summer was passing too fast. The Fourth of July celebration was now a pleasant memory. As usual, the fireworks in the small, family-filled park twenty minutes away in Barnardsville had been intimate, spectacular, and fun. Sitting there watching the sky explode into bursts of color, Grace had thought how well things were going for all of them and how happy she was. Now she shook her head, feeling the uneasiness that lies at the heart of any transition. A blink of an eye, that’s all it took for a pleasant, easygoing life to tumble like a shirt in a clothes dryer. Poor Laura. Grace had never met her. Neither had their housemate, Amelia, but if Laura needed to come home to her mother to recover, so be it. Grace would support Hannah in every way she could.

“It’ll be all right, Hannah. We have the extra bedroom upstairs. If Laura needs to be downstairs, we’ll convert the dining room for her, like we did when you had your hip replacement surgery.”

“Seems so long ago, over two years,” Hannah said. “You took such good care of me.” Hannah gave Grace a grateful look. “I can always count on you, can’t I, my friend?”

“Yes, you can.” Grace squeezed Hannah’s arm. “Three Musketeers. You said that once, when we were deciding to come down here to see the farmhouse, remember?”

“I remember,” Hannah said. She looked deep into Grace’s gentle brown eyes. “Oh, Grace, thank God we’re not still living at Olive Pruitt’s boarding house. Thank God Amelia inherited this farmhouse, and we had the guts to move from Pennsylvania down to North Carolina.”

“And bless Amelia for so generously putting the deed into our three names,” Grace said.

“Indeed. Now, I have a home my child can come to.”

When Amelia returned from her photo shoot, her reaction was the same as Grace’s. “Mais oui, Laura must come here.” Her splendid sapphire eyes filled with concern.

“It won’t be easy. Laura’ll be on crutches for many weeks,” Hannah said.

“So? We’ll convert the dining room into a bedroom for her, like we did when you had surgery,” Amelia said.

“Can’t let you do that. We entertain a lot, and Grace loves to cook.”

Grace waved a hand. “I can still cook, and if we have anyone over we’ll set out a picnic right here on the porch. Who do we have over, anyhow? Mostly friends. They’ll understand.”

“It’s settled, then,” Amelia said. “Don’t worry about anything, Hannah. Grace and I will see about having our dining room furniture stored.”

Hannah nodded. It was hard for her to ask for or even to accept help, but she was learning. “Dr. Romano, Laura’s doctor, said Laura’s injuries are severe but not life threatening. She’s bruised inside and out, stitches down her left arm, and a nasty gash and stitches across her cheek. He said she had the best plastic surgeon on the island, and she won’t have visible scars.”

Amelia’s hand moved to her neck, where her burn scars were carefully concealed beneath one of her fine silk scarves.

Hannah’s brow wrinkled. “When they told her about Captain Marvin being lost at sea, they say she screamed and screamed. They had to sedate her.”

Amelia’s eyes clouded, and her lips tightened. “I know how your daughter feels. Because of my burns, they didn’t tell me for a long time that my Thomas had been killed when that car crashed into ours, and when they did, I went berserk.” Amelia brought her hands to her throat. “Mon Dieu, I wanted to die. I tried to force open a window in the hospital to jump out. They had to restrain me. Imagine poor Laura, unable to get out of bed. What could she do but scream?” Tears banked in Amelia’s eyes, and she looked away.

It was very quiet. No cars drove by on Cove Road. The wind had died down, and birds had ceased singing as if they too mourned Laura’s losses.

“Laura’s lucky to have you, Hannah, and someplace to go.” Amelia looked at them with pain-filled eyes, and when she spoke, her voice was a mere whisper. “After they released me from the hospital, I had no one to go to, no place to go, no one to talk to, nothing.” Pulling back her shoulders, Amelia tossed her head in a familiar gesture. “Well, mes amies, I’m going upstairs to shower. Mike and I are going to Asheville for dinner. He’ll be picking me up soon. Anything I can do for Laura, let me know.”

“Thanks, Amelia.” But as Amelia closed the front door behind her, Hannah speculated that of the three of them, Amelia was the least likely to spend time with someone as sick and as miserable as Laura was bound to be. For many moments, Grace and Hannah sat silent. Then Hannah said, “Since Amelia’s fling with that scoundrel Lance Lundquist ended, she’s been consumed with her photography. Doubt she’ll have the interest or time for Laura.”

Hannah’s eyes clouded. “Can’t believe this whole thing is happening. All those years Laura and Captain Marvin lived on that boat in Maine. Why did they pick up and move to the Caribbean? Why a hurricane so early in the season? Storm Watch, on the weather channel, keeps saying that August and September, not July, are the worst months for hurricanes.” Abruptly Hannah stopped the motion of her rocker. “How am I going to handle this, Grace? I’m a wreck already.”

Table of Contents

Reading Group Guide

1. What are some of the commonalities that bond Grace, Hannah, and Amelia, who have such disparate personalities, backgrounds, and experiences?

2. The issue of love versus commitment to friendship and a lifestyle recurs in Medlicott's novels. Bob is always trying to talk Grace into moving in with him, preferably marrying him. Do you think Grace should do this? Why or why not?

3. Does the manner in which Hannah and her daughter bridge the gap between them satisfy you? In your opinion was it too soon, too abrupt? Timed just right? How would you have handled this situation?

4. Grace denies having diabetes. Is her reaction typical, do you think? How would you have preferred to see her handle this?

5. How did you respond to the process of growth and change that takes place in Amelia? Have your feelings about Amelia changed? Why?

6. Did it surprise you that Amelia and Laura became close friends?

7. How important are the friendships of women to you?

8. What in this novel saddened you? What inspired you?

9. Are you surprised that Hannah would entertain romantic thoughts about Max? What, if anything, concerns you about this?

10. How does creating and working on "the gardens" bring everything closer together?

Your Rating:

Your Recommendations:

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Inspirational tale

The three sixty-something friends (Grace Singleton, Hannah Parrish and Amelia Declose) share a farmhouse in Covington, North Carolina. The trio also once shared the belief that life is over except for waiting to die for the geriatric set. However, the farm provides a cleansing and renewal of spirit for the threesome. Amelia turns to photography and shows plenty of talent. Hannah creates a thriving greenhouse. Grace turns to cooking. <P>However, not all is perfect. Hannah's daughter Laura barely survived a hurricane that destroyed her boat home and left her severely injured mentally and physically. She moves in with the three elderly women while she struggles to recover. Grace learns she suffers from diabetes, but cannot yet cope with that knowledge. Amelia knows her troubles pale in comparison, but her new thirst for life is in jeopardy as she frets that no one seems to want her photos beyond her immediate friends. <P>Fans of the Covington novels will enjoy the third tale though in many ways it is repetitious of the previous plots in which the three women confront age with its problems by renewing their lives with so-called youthful undertakings. The story line is fun while providing the message that no one is old if their young at heart, clearly encouraging the audience to do not act as spectators as someone else's life flashes by. FROM THE HEART OF COVINGTON is a well written modern day novel that showcases Joan Medlicott¿s ability to dramatize people¿s plights while inspiring readers to live life filled with zest and to the fullest. <P>Harriet Klausner

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